Lot of close encounters with bears over the years. Many at a few feet.
One evening on a bow elk hunt I happened across a black bear in a huckleberry patch and took a shot with my bow at 45 yards. I hit just above it's back and stuck in a tree, the arrow close enough to pull hair off it's back. It took off like a shot. Since we'd called in three bulls in a couple hours of hunting I decided to go back the next night and hunt for a few days. I was setting up my tent about 100 yards from where I'd taken that shot at the bear the evening before, and had left my bow leaning against a tree 15 yards away. I looked up and there was that same bear, sitting on his haunches 15 yards away, watching me set up my tent. He was just sitting there, as if to say, "Whatcha doin'?"
I couldn't reach my bow so I just kept doing what I was doing, one eye on that bear the whole time. He finally tired of watching and wandered off. I spent a long night imagining him coming back for revenge and shredding me into strips.
